Koihime†Musō (Visual Novel+Game Series)

Koihime†Musō is the title given to a series of Japanese adult visual novels and games based on the classic Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The gameplay of Koihime†Musō VNs follow a linear plot line, which offers pre-determined scenarios and courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the female main characters.

*Note: IMPORTANT!!! 恋姫†無双 and 恋姫†夢想 are both spelled Koihime†Musō in rōmaji due to 無双 ("unparalleled") and 夢想 ("dream") being homonyms.

Contents

The VN is set in an alternate ancient China during and after the fall of Han dynasty with several major differences compared to the original Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Most notably, most of the characters from the original novel got genderbent and the Three Kingdoms that were formed after the Han dynasty—the Wei (魏; Gi in Japanese), the Shu (蜀; Shoku in Japanese), and the Wu (吳; Go in Japanese)—had already been established.

Despite each kingdom (dubbed "factions" in the English release) being ruled by an independent monarchy, they still swear loyalty to the Han empire. However, the empire is on the verge of collapse as civil unrest and infighting bring turmoil to the people.

As Han finally collapses, more factions form, resulting in five in Koihime†Musō and seven in Shin Koihime†Musō. The majority of the two VNs involve the conflict between the factions and their interactions with Hongō Kazuto, who gets warped to the Koihime world from modern-day Japan.

Koihime†Musō: Doki Otome Darake no Sangokushi Engi (恋姫†無双 ～ドキッ☆乙女だらけの三国志演義～ lit. Love Princess†Unmatched ~Throb☆Romance of Three Kingdoms Filled with Girls~)was developed by BaseSon. It was released for the PC astwo DVD-ROMs on January 26, 2007. A sinsōban (【新装版】 lit. New Release) re-release, containing an extra fandisc, Sheishei†Musō (謝謝†無双), came out on April 11, 2008.A PlayStation 2 version rated 15+ titled Koihime†Musō (恋姫†夢想), developed by Yeti(official product page no longer exist) and published by Regista, was released on October 30, 2008.

A new version, titled Shin Koihime†Musō: Otome Ryōran Sangokushi Engi(真・恋姫†無双 〜乙女繚乱☆三国志演義〜), was released on December 26, 2008. It is a retelling of the first VN with many new characters added. In this new version, the player as Kazuto must choose which faction he must ally with in the beginning, which results in three routes. The PS2 version came out on November 10, 2011. The reboot is followed by a fan-disc titled Shin Koihime†Musō: Moe Shōden(真・恋姫†無双～萌将伝～), which was released on July 23, 2010; MoeShōden serves as a fan-disc providing many additional scenes. It is the continuation of a hypothetical "perfect" route, where no one dies and Kazuto unites all three factions into an alliance, becoming an emperor; instead of waging wars, the girls compete with each other for Kazuto's love.

Like the first VN, the 恋姫†無双 portion of the title is changed to 恋姫†夢想 in the PS2 release.

A version for the PSP is also available, but it's divided into 3 separate discs with each covering one faction. All three were released in 2010, with Go disc on September 22, Gi disc on October 28, and Shoku disc on November 25.

Sengoku†Koihime: ~Otome Kenran ☆ Sengoku Emaki~(戦国†恋姫～乙女絢爛☆戦国絵巻～) is the third installment of the Koihime franchise. It takes place after the Shin Koihime†Musō'main storyline and is about Kazuto's nephew, Nitta Kensuke, who gets warped to an alternate Sengoku ("warring states") period in Japan. Like his uncle in Koihime†Musō, Kensuke meets an all-female cast of the Sengoku heroes and is considered to be a divine figure. However, unlike its predecessors, Sengoku†Koihime is rated 15+ and doesn't contain any H-scenes.

An 18+ version, renamed Sengoku†Koihime X (戦国†恋姫 X), introduces H-scenes as well as new characters and events. It is released in late 2016.

New characters were introduced by a new website , teasing a new Koihime†Musō installment titled Shin Koihime†Eiyūtan: Otome Enran Sangokushi Engi (真・恋姫†英雄譚 ～乙女艶乱☆三国志演義～). It was released in 2015 separated into 3 chapters (one for each faction). Shoku chapter was released on April 24, Gi chapter was released on August 28, and Go chapter was released on October 30. Unlike previous releases, the three chapters are downloadable after purchase and do not have physical discs. A disc package titled Shin Koihime†Eiyūtan 1 2 3+PLUSwas released on July 29, 2016, it includes all three faction discs, a "+PLUS" disc with bonus scenes, and a music disc.

Gamania formally launched a web-browser based MMO strategy game titled Web Koihime†Musō (Web恋姫†夢想~乙女満載♥三国統一シミュレーション~)on December 7,2010,which has since been running on eight different servers. The game allows players to control up to 5 generals at a time from the Shin Koihime†Musō cast, join one of the 3 warring factions and try to conquer players of the other two opposing factions with the Red Turban Bandit faction acting as a NPC faction.Like most other browser based MMOs, this game is free to play with a Gamania account,however paying users gain access to enhancements otherwise unavailable or very difficult to obtain. The game ended its service on April 27th, 2016.

A fighting game, titled Shin Koihime†Musō: Otome Taisen Sangokushi Engi (真・恋姫†夢想 ～乙女対戦★三国志演義~), has been made. The arcade edition came out on July 30, 2011 and version 1.2 came out next year on June 4. The PC version was released on May 31, 2013. A PS3 version was released on February 20, 2014.

The game follows a 1v1 format on a 2D stage. The ten available fighters are organized into their respective factions: Shoku, Gi, and Go each has three while Ryofu alone represents her own faction. Along with the fighters, each faction also has strategists who would pair up with a chosen fighter of the same faction: Shoku, Gi, and Go each has two while Ryofu has one. The strategists enable the player to perform special attacks.

A sequel game, titled Koihime†Enbu (恋姫†演武), was released for the arcade on July 17, 2014. Koihime†Enbu follows the same gameplay as its predecessor, all the characters from the first game returns in the sequel and three new fighters are added: Bachō, Gakushin, and Shūtai. The PS4/PS3 versions were released on January 28, 2016. It also received a western localization for the PC and was made available on STEAM on May 19, 2016.